Jenny Durkan Likely Winner In Seattle Mayoral Race

SEATTLE, WA - Seattle mayoral front-runner Jenny Durkan came out 21 points ahead of opponent Cary Moon after the first round of ballots dropped Tuesday night. Moon predicted she would trail Durkan before polls closed Tuesday, but the Moon campaign thinks the race will tighten in the urban planner's favor as more results come in this week.

"We are up against tough odds," Moon said in a release shortly after the first round of ballots dropped Tuesday. "Campaign spending for our opponent broke city election records, outspending us by more than 3:1. The Chamber of Commerce funneled hundreds of thousands on behalf of Comcast, CenturyLink, AT&T, Amazon and others into a no-limit PAC for our opponent."

The Seattle Times called the race for Durkan Tuesday night. About half the ballots have not been counted, but making up a 21-point deficit is almost unheard of. In 2013, Councilwoman Kshama Sawant trailed incumbent Richard Conlin by over 6,000 votes, but she closed that gap after three days of ballot counting.

No matter the winner, Seattle will get its first woman mayor since Bertha Knight Landes, who served from 1926 to 1928. In an election night speech, Durkan said that she met with a 94-year-old woman at a senior center who remembered Landes' term. Durkan contrasted the woman's life with the problems facing many Seattle residents today.

"Last week, I was in South Seattle at the senior center and I met a woman named Jewell who is 94," Durkan said. "She was alive when Bertha was Mayor. She has lived in this city for decades. She has lived almost two lives. But today Jewell can barely get by. I sat and talked to her. And she pays her rent and expenses – she has only a few hundred dollars left. And she talked to me about how hard it was and how much she really had faith in Seattle. So [I] wanna tell you Jewell if you’re watching this: Help is on the way."

In the Position 8 City Council race, union organizer Teresa Mosqueda was out in front of socialist Jon Grant. Meanwhile, Council incumbent M. Lorena González was easily beating challenger Pat Murakami, a community activist.

Here are the results as of Tuesday night, which will change this week:

Ballot Measures

King County Veterans Levy Lid Lift -
East Bellevue Munincipal Corp. Prop 1 -
Advisory Vote No. 16 - 44% repealed, 55.9% maintained
Advisory Vote No. 17 - 51.61% repealed, 48.39% maintained
Advisory Vote No. 18 - 51.2% repealed, 48.8% maintained

Statewide Races

Legislative District 37, State Senator
Rebecca Saldaña (D) - WINNER

King County

King County, Executive
Dow Constantine - 75.4 %
Bill Hirt - 24.6%

King County, Sheriff
Mitzi Johanknecht - 51.84%
John Urquhart - 48.16%

Port of Seattle

Port of Seattle, Commissioner Position 1
John Creighton - 51.48%
Ryan Calkins - 48.52%

Port of Seattle, Commissioner Position 3
Stephanie Bowman - 66.79%
Ahmed Abdi -33.21%

Port of Seattle, Commissioner Position 4
Preeti Shridhar - 37.12%
Peter Steinbrueck - 62.88%

Seattle City

City of Seattle, Mayor
Jenny Durkan - 60.62%
Cary Moon - 39.38%

City of Seattle, Council Position 8
Teresa Mosqueda - 61.51%
Jon Grant - 38.49%

City of Seattle, City Attorney
Pete Holmes - 72.81%
Scott Lindsay - 27.19%

City of Seattle, Council Position 9
Pat Murakami - 32.32%
M. Lorena Gonzalez - 67.68%

Photo: Seattle Mayoral candidate Jenny Durkan, right, joins supporters waving signs on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2017, in Seattle. More than 90 years after Seattle elected Bertha Knight Landes as mayor, voters on Tuesday will elect a female mayor for the second time. Voters are choosing between Durkan, a former U.S. Attorney, and Cary Moon, an urban planner, to lead a city dealing with the benefits and problems of an economy booming for some more than others as e-commerce giant Amazon expands.

Image via Ted S. Warren/Associated Press